Lavendar's blue

Mom said everyone at the fair really liked the lions when she took them in. Actually she said they liked everything. She said they kept wandering up and looking. I just hope the judges feel the same way, ya know? I would like to get high placements on the lions and Treaty fairy. I busted my hump on those lions, after all. I don't think the ornament will do well, but it will be pretty on our tree and that is the most important thing.

I also entered the pillow sachet I made for SO for Valentine's Day. It's been under the bed for a few months to let the scent mellow--the lavendar was a bit strong initially. There was some confusion as to what I had stuffed it with. Mom said she told them it was lavendar, but the lady who checked it all in seemed to think it was something else. I told her she was right, it was lavendar, but not the lavendar I grew--that seems to be dying, and I never had enough to harvest more than a quarter cup. I don't know why it's dying; I think perhaps the plants were planted too close and, because they melded together into one large, intimidating plant that even scared my grandmother, it weakened the entire structure. I'm not certain, though; I'm not a botanist, I just know that sucker was BIG and GNARLY underneath. If it doesn't do better in the spring, it's coming out.

I'm kinda bummed about losing my mondo lavendar plant. I know when we get our forever house, I intend on having an herb garden with lavendar in it. Not just because I don't want to pay for the buds, but lavendar is such a useful, lovely plant and a pleasure for the eye. It's beautifully colored--the purple against the ash green. And it's alive all year; I accidentally stepped on some in December one year, fooling with Christmas lights, and it was so delightful to smell spicy lavendar drifting up through a snowy evening. But . . . lavendar is also a very effective natural mosquito repellent. I've tried it and it works. I was just thinking yesterday that I need to buy some kind of lavendar soap product for us to take camping to ward them off at night. It's not too girly for SO to use and the mosquitos on Assateague are BIG. Anything to avoid using chemicals is good.

I forgot to get a picture of my entries all together. I promise when everything comes back from the fair, I'll get photos.